​UPDATE, OCT. 5, 9:49 A.M.: Newport Beach's city attorney has terminated the nearly half million dollar yearly legal consulting contract recently awarded to his predecessor, following David Hunt's second arrest in two years.

Newport Beach police arrested the 53-year-old Santa Ana resident Friday for allegedly driving under the influence after he crashed into a parked car."The action terminating the contract is fully allowed under the
agreement," Hunt reportedly told the Daily Pilot via email Tuesday. "I accept and
honor the city attorney's decision."

The contract that was terminated had been approved by the City Council on Sept. 27. It was actually between new City Attorney Aaron Harp's office and Hunt's new employer, Irvine-based Friedman Stroffe & Gerard. That firm had not yet done any work for the city under the contract, which will officially be severed on Oct. 11.

ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 3, 4:31 P.M.: About a year and a half after Newport Beach City Attorney David Huntwas arrested for beating his wife, he retired from his post at City Hall--not that those incidents are related.

Hunt, 53, has since been re-hired as a legal consultant to the city in a contract that could pay nearly half a million dollars.

But damn if Hunt's legal troubles aren't returning along with him.

The Santa Ana resident was was arrested Friday night in Newport Beach on
suspicion of driving drunk and smacking his car into a parked car.

Newport
Beach police say Hunt hit the car in a parking lot at
the west end of Ford Road near Mesa View, which would be about where the Bonita Canyon Sports Park lot would be. Hunt was not hurt, but the car
he hit was damaged.

By the way, the only full bar I know of in the area is at Taco
Rosa, which is off Ford Road on the opposite side of the park.

Santa
Ana police arrested Hunt in March 2010 on suspicion of domestic
violence in an
altercation he had at home with his wife and son. The Newport Beach
City Council placed Hunt on administrative leave as the Orange County
District Attorney's office (OCDA) conducted a felony spousal abuse
investigation.

After the OCDA declined to file charges, citing lack of evidence, the
council voted in June 2010 to allow Hunt to return to the City
Attorney's office.

Hunt retired in August of this year, but in late September he was re-hired as an outside consultant by the city. Councilwoman Leslie Daigle
was the only member of the panel to oppose Hunt's rehiring, and she
objected strongly, noting that his contract called for $120,000 per
quarter, or $480,000 annually.

New City Attorney Aaron Hart reassured the other council members that he does not plan to use the full $480,000 he's been allotted.